A broken mess of wood was all that was left of a handmade clock after a man touched the piece of artwork while visiting the National Watch and Clock Museum this weekend.

Security cameras at the Columbia museum captured the footage of the man putting his hands on the clock in an attempt to see how it worked. After some prodding and pulling, the large sculptural clock fell to the ground.

The man who had touched the clock immediately confessed and got a museum employee.

"The visitor wanted to see it run and decided to take it on himself to do that and the results speak for themselves," said museum director Noel Poirier. "It's in pieces."

The sculptural clock was made by Minnesota-based artist James Borden.

Poirier said the museum is working with the artist to get the clock repaired. Hopefully, if the damage is not too bad, the clock will be back at the museum in the next couple weeks.

But, I thought it was the kids that museums had to worry about touching stuff?

"Folks that work in museum typically tell you that it's the adults you have to worry about more than the kids," Poirier said. "It seems that the adults feel a little more entitlement to touch things."